That article is 100% correct. While I am not retired, I live and work in Jakarta and once you get use to this life, you can never go back. Imagine NEVER cleaning your house, NEVER driving a car (here we have drivers for about US$100 month), NEVER cleaning the table after dinner, NEVER cooking, and dining out for two for about US$10-15 for a nice international meal. So you think you have a lot of free time. Wrong. Once you are free from the mundane, your life suddenly fills with projects that you have always wanted to do: reading, photography, socializing frequently, really managing your stocks and investments, etc. While it sounds a little scary to move to a foreign country, after about a year you realize you can never go back to the "old" life. And I have more friends in Jakarta than I ever thought of having in the U.S.

Toro writes:>>>>>That article is 100% correct. While I am not retired, I live and work in Jakarta and once you get use to this life, you can never go back. Imagine NEVER cleaning your house, NEVER driving a car (here we have drivers for about US$100 month), NEVER cleaning the table after dinner, NEVER cooking, and dining out for two for about US$10-15 for a nice international meal. >>>>>

Thanks Toro. I would actually consider moving there. The PPP of Phillipines shows that it's currency is undervalued by about 50% relative to the dollar. This means that the dollar goes a long way there.

Question: Would it be possible to go to the Phillipines on vacation to scout it out? Are there short term furnished apartment rentals at reasonable rates (where I won't get taken for being a foreigner?) where one could sort of check out the lay of the land? I would be more interested in leaving near the sea in some sort of beach front community. I love Thailand and am doing some traveling there over the winter. Maybe I should put The Phillipines on my list for winter travel next year?

To say the banks were not receptive would be an understatement. Even though my wife is Filipina, with interest rates at 21% (yes, that is correct), there was almost no lending market. On top of that, the loan to value percentages were a max of about 60% - nobody was taking any risks. Essentially it was a cash market, with almost the only prospective buyers being foreigners.

This is from a thread about the Philippines on the TMF UK. You can back into the thread from here.